Notes from the back row

The aliens have arrived

Few things suck/blow/lick as much ass as the first
back-to-school sale ads of the summer. Kids everywhere see those and get that
sinking feeling — the end is near. If you’re older than school age,
however, you might remember the mid-‘90s television hit
The X Files.
It was a pretty top-notch FBI-slash-sci-fi show (they
even had an episode about my favorite animal, the Chupacabra) and creator Chris
Carter brings Mulder and Scully back to the big screen this week with
The
X Files: I Want To Believe.

To believe, or not to believe, that is the question. This
show was built on the skeptic versus believer dynamic and X-Philes, as the
serious fans are known, won’t be disappointed with the new film. Now retired,
Mulder is brought back into the fold by the case of a missing female agent
(he’s supposed to be a recluse but you know he enjoys hittin’ the pavement with
old Scully) and their best lead is a convicted psychic pedophile priest (is
there any other kind?) played excellently by Billy Connolly. It’d be a shame to
give away too much plot but this film stands alone enough that even if you
aren’t coming in with a TV show history it still entertains as a tight
thriller.

Aside from David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson,
X-Files
also stars Amanda Peet and Xibit, Callum Keith
Rennie and home grown Pemberton boy Neil Talbot (well, maybe he doesn’t ‘star’
in it so much but Neil gets a shout out anyhow). The even better news is that
the film was shot in Vancouver and Pemberton, just like the early (and best) years
of the old show. When it comes to
The X Files,
I believe.

I also believe in John C. Reilly, the guy never disappoints.
From
Boogie Nights
to
Criminal
to
Talladega Nights
to
Hard Eight,
it seems Johnny can’t give a bad performance. This week he re-teams up
with Will Ferrell and director Adam McKay (
Talladega Nights)
in the Judd Apatow-produced comedy
Step
Brothers —
a film about a couple of
middle aged ‘adultescents’ living at home who are forced together when one’s
mom marries the other’s dad. The two new brothers share a room, toys, and an
initial disliking of each other until they eventually bond over dinosaurs and a
pretty funny John Stamos joke. After some pretty awesome anti-job hunting, the
situation is complicated when a bullying, more successful third brother and his
wife enter the scene, splintering the family until the thankfully
not-too-sentimental end.

Ferrell has made a career out of the man-child role and
Reilly steps into it again like a favorite t-shirt. The humor here is juvenile
and stupid but that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of good laughs. Apatow
(and Ferrell and McKay when they are on it) have a brand of humour reminiscent
of the old Farrelly Brothers movies (
Something about Mary, Stuck on You)
and while lots of people might not think it’s
hilarious to watch a grown man rub his nutsack on another grown man’s prized
possessions, there are a lot of other people who do. This is good, wholesome,
R-rated entertainment.

Having said that, it’s time for John C. Reilly to cut
himself loose from Ferrell and the comedy genre and go after roles with a bit
more punch or dramatic seriousness. Ferrell, more and more, seems to be a
one-trick pony but his trick is pretty good. So long as he surrounds himself
with top notch staff, I’ll keep watching.

And to all the school kids, don’t worry, we’ve still got
The House Bunny, The Rocker
and
Pineapple
Express
to keep you laughing until
September, and school, rear their ugly heads.